“Rosie the Riveter” has died.
Mary Doyle Keefe, who posed for Norman Rockwell’s now famous painting, died at the age of 92 this week at her home in Simbery, Conn.
Keefe, who was a 19-year-old telephone operator at the time, posed for the Rockwell painting that became not just the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on May 29, 1943, but the symbol of American women working at home during World War II.
She made $10 for two mornings of modeling for the painting in Arlington, Vt. Rockwell lived nearby in West Arlington.
“Rosie the Riveter” is often confused with a woman flexing her arm under the slogan “We Can Do It” — another popular image from World War II, though it is not the same character.
Both women however came to boldly and popularly represent the contribution of women in the United States during the war.
Mary Doyle Keefe, 92, Rosie the Riveter http://t.co/18K1TnVmmA pic.twitter.com/eHimC1CukF
— Marine Corps Reserve (@MarForRes) April 23, 2015
(h/t CNN)
